Doing the Cliffy Young Shuffle

20 minutes running, 5 minutes walk warm up. 32 minutes total.

My running style is a Cliffy Young shuffle. Cliffy Young was an Australian ultramarathon runner and winner of the Sydney to Melbourne marathon.

There was no pain in my achilles. I was supposed to only go for 8 minnutes today. But I ran for gold instead. I was feeling so good after ten minutes that I kept on going.

My goal is to run 25 minutes easy on land. Then I know I can cover the distance of the Sawtell fun run, which is 5.5km. I can do my hard workouts pool running and cycling.

Weekend

Today I wanted to do a pool run, but there was a swimming carnival on at the Olympic Pool. 40 minutes on the cycle instead.

This avo I drove past the Swimming Pool and the carnival was still going. I went for a 50 minute walk around the Jetty instead. I kept sensing a bit of nerve pain all the way around, the pain doesn’t come from the knee itself, it might be my back. This injury wants to keep having a go at me.

I’m really looking forward to leaving for Perth in two weeks. Going into work next week will be very hard.

Ten minutes

I ran slowly for ten minutes this afternoon. A warm up of 5 minutes walking and and then 10 minutes of Cliffy Young type shuffle running. Then 10 minutes walking to cool down. When the watch clicked over to 5 minutes, I thought “do I really want to run?”. I guess I was fearful that the achilles pain would rear its ugly head. Injury free running is wonderful, running with pain is not.

I ran. And it didn’t hurt. The physio wanted me to only run 6 minutes today, but I went ten. Sunday I plan to run 15. To be honest I reckon I could run all day at the pace I did tonight and not injure myself.

I did good

Today at the physio I ran for four minutes. No problems with the achilles.

The video of the Bridge Run turned up today. It brought back the good memories of such a fantastic day. I remember in particular after the finish when I walked along the harbour foreshore saying over and over again “how good was that?” how good was that?’.

I worked hard, I did good. I am a winner. I am a fighter. And most importantly I am a survivor.

 I also feel intensely emotional about the Bridge Run. It was such a hugely positive experience for me, I felt so good about what I had achieved.

First small steps for Quinkin

The physio had me run on a mini trampoline and a exercise mat for 2 minutes. My achilles was fine. I could walk on my heels and toes without pain. I could jump up an down on both legs. When I tried to jump up and down on my bad achilles it became sore.

I get to run 4 minutes on Wednesday. Still it seems to be improving. Six weeks for this achilles injury is nothing compared to 3 years for my knee.

I just did forty minutes on the cycle. I averaged 19/20km/hr for the final 5 minutes or so.

60 minute pool jog, 50 minute swim

I’m tired after all of that. I am definately swimming better, but I am deadly slow.

Just been reading some of the posts from over a year ago on this blog. Despite all I’ve been through I’m still here fighting away. I have been through hell and back. I have fought, I have worked extremely hard, for two years. I have been in pain for SO long.

The evidence of what I have been through, how HARD I have had to work is all documented on this blog.  I know how hard it has been, and despite it all I have acheived remarkeable things.

Swim the light fantastic

Big session this morning. 40 minute pool run. Followed by a 450 metre swim in 26 minutes 07. My breaks between each fifty are less. I control my breathing better so I am not out of breath each fifty. It is very slow swimming, but it is swimming and I can only get better.

Saw the physio on Friday about the achilles. He was happy with my progress. I can do one legged heel dros with minimal discomfort. He asked me to jump up and down on both legs. There was no pain. Then he asked me to jump on each leg. There was the start of some discomfort on the bad achilles. This was light years better than 2 weeks ago when I was limping around town.

My mood has picked up as well. Last week at work wasn’t as bad either. I spent an enoyable day in Bongil

Bongil NP.

Bongil Bongil Beach

Rain drops Scrub Creek

Cape water lily

Litoria fallax

Pool Running

A forty minute pool run. It seems pool running is still a novelty amongst swimmers.

“That must be boring for you,” one well meaing swimmer said. Which is interesting coming from someone chasing a black line up and down the pool.

With pool running I’m getting a good cardiovascular workout. However, I’m not getting chlorine up my nose, or in my hair. My eyes don’t turn red from the water leaking into my goggles. I don’t feel like I am drowning or suffocating when I turn my head to breathe and instead get a mouth full of water.

A couple of kids really couldn’t work out what I was doing. They checked me out underwater. “He has a bad knee maybe that is why he is doing it.”

Some girls swam past and said “How boring.” One splashed me with water. I asked her to keep her water to herself.

One boy asked me if I was touching bottom. I told him I was running in water because I have bung knee and can’t run on land.

He looked at me as if I was some exotic bug. Swimmers just don not understand.

Another boy asked me to move, he wanted to dive in.

“No I said use another lane.” At one stage I had to dodge in and out of other swimmers. I pool jogged from lane 8, to 6, and all the way over to 5, just trying to find a little bit of open water where I could pool jog in peace.

Then I had a swim, 250 metres. And I couldn’t believe I was swimming easily. Just slowing down my stroke and making sure I breath; floating like a log. They were the easiest 50 metres I’ve ever done! Maybe I’m mastering this swimming caper as well? I turn to breathe and then I delay the entry of my stroke into the water so I get more air.

This is all well and good, but I’d rather be running on dry land.

Bridge Run Photos

Finally I have been able to get my Bridge Run photos

One the best days of my life, a running dream come true

 

Temptation wins

Yes, I gave into temptation and tried to run in the Jacaranda Festival Fun Run. I was forced to pull out of the the race at 3.6km . I did a lot of  warming up and the tendon was still twinging and tender. I started slowly first 1km in 4:10 second in 4:18. I think I would’ve been in about twelth position. The race went down hill towards the railway line and that was when my achilles twinged painfully. I battled on up the hill, really slowing down not because I was puffed, but due to the pain. At 3.6km I was limping and the pain was just getting worse. So I stopped.

I have been limping since. Yesterday out in the field the tendon really hurt when I stepped on some logs hidden in the grass. The pain would settle every time I did a site. At the end of the day I was absolutely wrecked. I didn’t feel much pain in the achilles.

The physio I am seeing lent me an aquajogger. One Tuesday I spent a session pool running. It was an interesting experience. I was moving along in the water and had to turn around at the 1.8 metre depth. I was running pretty hard but my heart rate wasn’t getting too high. Apparently the hydrostatic pressure of the water keeps heart rate an blood pressure down. Not sure if I was imagining it but the bow wave of a strong swimmer in the lane next to me was causing me to be forced towards the wall.

There were heaps of school kids in the pool. I’ll have to choose a better time to swim. I hate being around big groups of school kids.